Naphthalene of Solstice

Naphthalene of Solstice (Lena) is a black Russian Warmblood mare standing 15.2h on 19cm of bone, currently in training for eventing. She’s strong and forward without being hot—a traditional Trakehner temperament—with a scopey jump and good movement at the trot and canter. Her sire is Ifferox of Solstice, a black Russian stallion foaled in 1999 at Solstice Farm and bred by Barbara Weber. Ifferox was by Iskusnik out of the Trakehner mare Fanfare, a cross that brought legacy Orlov-Rostopchin blood together with the very best of the Trakehner Main Stud lines—exactly what Starozhilovsky Studfarm, in Russia’s Ryazan Region, had itself been aiming for in its own reconstruction program. Ifferox was therefore an early highlight of Solstice Farm’s own reconstruction effort. He was leggy and uphill-built, with a long neck set into a well-sloped shoulder, a deep girth, and a dry, refined head with a quiet eye. His sire Iskusnik was foaled March 29, 1994 at Starozhilovsky, black, branded 94 over 29 on the left wither, by Intrigan out of Istina. Before export he was presented for bonitirovka and earned an Elite-1 rating, and was named best two-year-old stallion of the studfarm’s 1996 evaluations. Weber bought him and imported him to Solstice Farm, then in Sandstone, Minnesota, where he became the touchstone of her reconstruction project.

Fanfare, Ifferox’s dam, was foaled in 1980 in Germany, by Harnisch out of Farina XVII. Harnisch, a dark bay standing 16.1h, produced 77 foals, 14 of them competing in sport through international-level dressage, one-star eventing, and 1.40m grand prix jumping, and earned a Prämie designation in 1985. Two generations up his sire line sits Tempelhüter, chief sire at Trakehnen through the 1920s and the horse most credited with founding the modern Trakehner breed — a statue of him stood at Trakehnen until it was carried off to Russia as war booty. On the dam’s side, Harnisch traces to the English Thoroughbred Dark Ronald, sold to Germany in 1913 and leading sire there five years running, once called the most influential sire in the history of the German turf. Farina XVII, meanwhile, is a granddaughter of Maharadscha, one of the most influential postwar Trakehner stallions and the damsire of Abdullah, Conrad Homfeld’s 1984 Olympic team gold and individual silver medalist. Ifferox left three daughters, all foaled within six weeks of each other in the summer of 2014: Firefly of Solstice on July 10, out of the Arabian mare Kismet Shaklonna ox; Saffire of Solstice on August 15, out of Destiny of Solstice ox, another Arabian-line dam; and Lena on August 20, out of Benzene of Solstice.

Lena’s dam is Benzene of Solstice, a chestnut Anglo-Trakehner mare foaled 2002, standing 16.3hh, by Carino out of Lord’s Lady B xx. Carino was a black Trakehner stallion foaled 1976 in Germany, standing 16.2hh, rated Elite. His German Trakehner Stallion Book inspection described him as a correct, medium-sized stallion with a striking head and a well-carried, medium-long neck, broad and deep through the body and well coupled, with a sufficiently long, sloped croup—noting only that he could have carried a bit more overall significance as a stallion. Lord’s Lady B xx, foaled 1990, is by Lord of All xx out of You Buper xx. Lord of All, foaled 1980, started four times without a win for $850, then went on to become a sporthorse and dressage sire. He was a direct son of Seattle Slew xx—bred in Kentucky by Ben S. Castleman and bought for $17,500 as a yearling, Seattle Slew won 14 of 17 career starts for $1,208,726, becoming the first horse in history to sweep the 1977 Triple Crown without a single prior loss. He was Champion 2-Year-Old in 1976, Champion 3-Year-Old and Horse of the Year in 1977, and Champion Older Horse in 1978; his only career defeat came weeks after the Belmont, in the Swaps Stakes. At stud he sired more than 100 stakes winners, including A.P. Indy, before his death in 2002 and induction into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1981. Lord of All’s own dam, Twixt xx, ran 70 times for 26 wins and $619,143, a black type winner. She produced nine foals, four winners and three black type among them, Lord of All included — though none of her foals ever matched her own race record. You Buper xx, Lord’s Lady B’s dam, was by Bupers xx, a Kentucky-bred stallion who started 61 times for 7 wins and $221,688, taking the Futurity Stakes and the Hibiscus Stakes.

The Orlov-Rostopchin breed dates to the mid-18th century, when Russia developed horses not only for carriage and military use but specifically for dressage riding. Through associations with the French court, the Tsarist upper class practiced horsemanship as an artistic pursuit, and Catherine the Great enlisted the Orlov brothers to develop a riding horse worthy of the Russian court—elegant enough for the parade ground, tough enough for war. The breed nearly disappeared in the 20th century, and the modern American restoration effort rests on a narrow foundation: eleven foals sired by Iskusnik in the two years between his import and his death. Lena descends from that group through her sire, Ifferox — one of Iskusnik’s approved sons.